


When we meet it seems I can't let go

by barbvin



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, but this one is kinda cute, it takes over once more, my sad kink continues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2017-11-20
Packaged: 2019-02-04 21:04:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12779478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barbvin/pseuds/barbvin
Summary: Betty and Jughead had a fight. The boys talk it over at Pop's, while the girls have a night in at the Cooper's household.None of them has any idea how important the stories they are hearing are, but Alice and FP find themselves wondering a lot of things.





	When we meet it seems I can't let go

“Maybe it doesn’t seem so, but we remember being your age and how intense everything felt”, Fred said as the four of them sat at their usual booth at Pop’s.

Every Thursday, FP Jones and Fred Andrews, old childhood friends, took their own sons out for dinner to their favorite diner. They didn’t mean to make it a whole night of anecdotes and memories, at least not every time, but it was what usually happened.

Jughead and Archie didn’t look bored, or they were great actors. They usually listened as the two older men bickered and argued, before laughing at some inside joke no one else would understand.

That night was different. The morale wasn’t high as they all headed there together, but it was too late to cancel, –and Jughead insisted he _really_ needed a burger–, so they ordered twice the amount of food they needed.

“You’re telling me I can fix anything as if it’s just some stupid small thing, and it’s not. I think it’s over for good this time”, Jughead complained, taking his beanie off as he dramatically rested his head on the table.

“She’s not asking for that much, she’s not really asking for anything; she just did it for you!” FP was joking but no one other than his friend seemed to appreciate it. “You know I agree with her anyway”, the look of fury in his son’s eyes was fairly terrifying “Maybe she wasn’t thinking when she did it, but at least she was honest about it.”

“I told her, it’s not for me. If she gets into NYU, which she probably will, she doesn’t have to worry about money! She has no right to make that decision for me. I don’t even think it’s legal for her to fill the application for me.” The sad boy ranted while he over gestured with his hands.

“Bro, you could get a scholarship”, the redhead tried to argue “You deserve a scholarship. She’s just trying to help because she thinks you can do better.”

“She’s not wrong”, Fred backed up his kid “Listen, we all know you have a lot of potential. You would be better off at a place like NYU, a more prestigious school. Not that there is anything bad with the state schools you applied to, but that girl knows what’s best for you.”

“It’s still not okay for her to do that behind my back”, Jughead argued “And if they even accept me, which they won’t, I won’t get the scholarship; that’s just too much, it won’t happen.” He laid his head down on the table again, showing he was done defending himself. 

“Listen, I’m sorry”, FP started before they all tried to interrupt him, but they should’ve known they couldn’t stop him. “Let me apologize to my son, okay?” He snapped to his friend before continuing. “I’m sorry, I wish we had the money for you to feel safe, and it’s probably my fault we don’t. But it’s not about that, it’s about what you can earn by yourself, because you deserve it.”

“We’ve all had that girlfriend”, Fred added, in what seemed like an attempt to lighten up the mood but was obviously failing. “They just want to push you to be better, because they are right, you can do better, but it’s hard to accept it.”

They all sat in silence for a second as the food was delivered to the table, all of them taking in everything that was said, trying to separate and internalize whatever part of the conversation was useful to them.

“You know, the guys who get to keep those girls are pretty lucky”, FP told Fred. Obviously they both understood what he meant. “Sure, they put in a lot of effort trying to keep up with them, which we didn’t, but maybe it would’ve been worth it if we did. I don’t know; they sure made high school easier.”

“Speak for yourself, I’m glad I didn’t try harder”, Fred replied with a laugh. “God, I remember! You really were a whole different person”, he teased.

“Mr. Jones”, Archie spoke softly, obviously feeling insecure about his words “Well, we know my dad dated Mrs. Lodge, but we didn’t know you had a girlfriend in high school.”

The older men laughed as they realized they had created a problem for themselves. FP had locked those memories in a dark corner because they were too painful, even after all that time, but sometimes he liked to remember, it was important to remember.

It was important because the kids needed to know that they were not their parents. They could get the girl, and also get the life they wanted, or they could end up like him and lose both.

“Do we know her?” Jughead asked, his head perked up and he was involved in the conversation again, although that didn’t stop him from taking a giant bite from his burger.

“Not really”, the serpent replied and it wasn’t a complete lie, they didn’t know her like he did.

“Come on dad, I wanna know”, his kid insisted.

“You’re still mad at me for not staying with your mom, so I don’t think you’ll like this story.”

The situation suddenly got tense. Jughead had been mad at him for way too long about it, and couldn’t understand he had no control over it. It made him realize his son was still a kid, still held the illusion of his family getting back together, a dream the years had taken away from him.

“I think this is a safe space for all of us”, Fred said trying to help “and I also think Jughead is over it; they both are over it”, he referenced his son too, and his own failed marriage. “We could use a good story right now.”

It was easy for him to say, he wasn’t the one who had to talk about the love of his life. But the kids looked interested enough, and it sounded like they needed the lesson.

And if he was honest to himself, it had been a while since FP had thought about it. _He missed her_.

“Well, what would you like to know?” 

 

* * *

 

“I didn’t want him to get mad. I just did it because he deserves it, he deserves so much more, and he won’t allow himself to try”, Betty was mumbling in between the sobs and struggling to breathe.

Alice couldn’t find words to describe how painful it was to see her own daughter like that. She knew it was not as bad as it seemed, she knew it wasn’t dangerous, she knew it would be fine soon, but that wouldn’t stop her blood from boiling.

However, Veronica was sitting there with her, stroking her hair and handing her tissues. It was almost like seeing her younger self with –well– with the one person that ever really understood her. The blonde and the brunette had found each other, like they had done it so many years ago. God, _she missed Hermione_.

“Elizabeth, honey, drink some”, she suggested while handing her daughter a cup of tea before joining them.

“I know I didn’t have the right to do that, but it makes me furious, I can’t stand by while he sabotages himself”, the crying girl continued “I try to understand, and most times I’m good at it, but this is his future. So I screwed up because I thought it would be better to deal with him being mad for a while than letting him fail. I just didn’t see him breaking up with me over this, it’s so stupid.”

“I’m sorry B”, Veronica tried to comfort her “I don’t think it’s that bad, I think you’ll be okay. You know how he gets when anyone does anything for him, you should’ve seen it coming.”

“I don’t think you did anything wrong anyway”, Alice added and the brunette’s eyes suddenly were stuck on her, trying to shut her up “She didn’t! The thing is there’s a choice to make. Do you love him for what he is? If you do, there’s no need to do things like this, to try to change him. If he’s enough for you, you should let him know. Now, if he’s not, well, you can’t change him. And I’m not saying it’s bad for you to try, I’m just saying it’s impossible, you can’t do it.”

“You’re telling dad what to do constantly, and he does everything you want him to. How would you know?” Betty asked, angry, frustrated, and desperate for answers or solutions.

“I know. I know how high school boyfriends work. I know if you try to change him, he’ll get tired eventually and move on”, Alice was serious and she could understand the look of surprise on the girls’ faces; she wasn’t supposed to help her keep her boyfriend, it was not what she usually did.

“So there was another boyfriend?” Veronica suddenly sounded like she was looking for trouble while a smile settled on her face, making the blonde laugh. “We didn’t know about that, did we?” She asked her friend, who shook her head quickly and sat up straight as if getting ready for a story.

“It was too long ago, I barely remember anything”, Alice lied.

Truth was the memories were more than alive; they were always present somewhere in the back of her mind. It came back to her every time she saw him, no matter how far away he was. It came back to her every time the kids got together and she allowed herself to remember when _they_ all had that, when they had friendship, love, happiness but most of all youth.

“I think we could use a cute happy story”, the brunette insisted and she was just like her mother.

“Oh, it’s a cute story for sure, but it is not a happy one”, Alice clarified, since she _could_ be honest about that.

 

* * *

 

“Was she hot?” Archie asked, without a second of hesitation, and made the older men laugh.

“Let me get this one”, Fred jokingly dismissed his friend who was about to talk “I’ll tell you, the first day she walked into school, I lost your father completely”, he told Jughead who suddenly had a smile on his face. It felt like a small victory. “I was even a little distracted myself, but I got over it quick. You see, she wasn’t really my type.”

“Shut up”, FP laughed and lightly punched his friend on the arm. Suddenly the memories didn’t seem so long ago.

“She was a little bit”, he made a pause for dramatic effect and the kids did not appreciate the suspense “difficult, I’d say. Definitely difficult, and it didn’t take long for me to realize she didn’t like me at all, she actually hated me.”

“She didn’t”, FP disagreed but it wasn’t at all truth “Well, at times she seemed to like Fred more than she liked me, so that gives you an idea of how our time was”, he joked to get a laugh, but it was rather sad. “She was the prettiest girl I’ve seen in my entire life”, he finally said, getting to the point their sons cared about “The second she walked into school and we saw her, I remember thinking I had to ask her out”.

“And how did you do it?” Jughead asked, getting impatient.

“Oh, no. I never did”, the serpent replied and caused confusion “God, no. She would’ve rejected me, no doubt. I didn’t have much going for me”, his friend laughed as he obviously didn’t share his opinion “I was okay at talking, which was more than Fred had, so I had convinced a couple girls to go out with me before. But she was different”.

“Different as in one day, after a week of planning and thinking, we walk up to her to invite her to a party Hermione was throwing. This one”, Fred pointed to his friend “didn’t say a word. As soon as we are in front of her, he went pale and didn’t speak a word. I ended up inviting her, which wasn’t really the plan. She went anyway, but I don’t think it was because of me. I barely saw her there, or him for that matter.”

“I don’t know why you’re blaming that on me”, FP started annoyed “If I remember correctly, that was the time you spent all night with the host inside her closet.”

“Like father, like son, I guess”, Jughead said, probably thinking it was just loud enough for only Archie to listen, while he laughed embarrassed. But they all heard, even though they didn’t need to ask about it.

“What happened at the party then?” The redhead continued, trying to move on, but also genuinely curious.

“Well, I was ignored at first, of course”, he confessed “She probably had no idea what she was in for, because she didn’t know Hermione all that well, but the girl showed up at the party wearing jeans and a white t-shirt so the night didn’t start smoothly”.

“I had a fight with her after that”, Fred told his friend, and it was the first time he was hearing this part “Hermione and Mary both tried to convince her to change, it was kind of rude”, the mention of the two women together didn’t alarm any of them, as they were too immerse in the story “Anyway, it wasn’t about that, I just wanted attention”.

“So she left the party, not even half an hour after getting there. I saw the opportunity and I asked her to walk her home”

 

* * *

 

“That’s so romantic!” Veronica couldn’t keep the comments to herself as Alice pretended to be annoyed, which she wasn’t.

“Not at all. He didn’t say a word while we walked! And it was something like fifteen blocks, so after a while it got really awkward. When we were close to my house and he finally did speak, he apologized about the way his friends behaved, and reminding me how bad it was didn’t help him”.

“To be fair, wearing jeans to a Lodge party is really offensive. I’m sorry if they were rude, I’m just saying!” The brunette said and seemed to laugh at herself.

“Well, your mother wasn’t a Lodge back then”, Alice commented even though it didn’t change anything.

“Did he kiss you before you walked in?” Betty asked, still completely invested in the narrative.

“No, it wasn’t going that well for him and he knew it”, Alice couldn’t help but giggle as she remembered the look on his face “He apologized again, and said he’d see me around in school. He knew it had gone horribly and gave up. That’s when I knew I liked him”.

“God, mom, that’s so bad”, Betty was laughing at her mother’s statement, and Alice knew her mission was already accomplished.

“Well, younger me was a little bit of a nightmare that way”, she tried to make it sound innocent while she stood up “Feel free to stay the night Veronica”.

“Mrs. Copper, I’m sorry, we’re not done here yet”, the Lodge girl spoke up as she blocked the way and led Alice to her chair again “I mean, you can’t leave it there! We haven’t even gotten to the first kiss yet, and you implied it had a dramatic ending, so where’s all the romance we’re missing?”

“I didn’t want to be a bummer!” She quickly justified, still trying to get out of it.

The two girls sat next to each other on the couch, covered by a blanket. Betty’s eyes were red and puffy, but the tears seemed to be completely gone.

Alice’s chest was bursting anyway. She hadn’t told that story in so long, in fact maybe she had never told anyone the entire thing. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt, maybe it would serve as advice and she would feel better after it. Maybe all the pain that came with the memories was gone after more than twenty five years and the good stuff was all that was left.

“So, the first kiss?” Betty asked quickly and there was no going back.

“After a double date with Hermione and Fred, they ditched us and we sat at a booth at Pop’s talking for hours. He asked me before he did it though, he was a sweet kid”, Alice spoke and her smile was too big to hide.

“That’s so cute!” Veronica was back making her comments but now everyone seemed happy, as the older woman couldn’t help but blush a little bit. “Was he like one of those old school gentleman guys?” She asked excited.

“He was. Oh god, it’s so embarrassing!” Alice laughed and warned the girls “I was always wearing his jackets and he rarely let me pay for anything”, she spared them the details, it’s not like she could pay for anything “It wasn’t even like that, he wasn’t being polite. He was just really sweet”

“It seems like you really liked him” Betty commented, her voice was soft and there was a grin on her face.

It occurred to Alice that her daughter had never seen her like that, no one had ever seen her happy and flustered like that, other than her high school boyfriend. No one had ever made her feel like that after him, and she didn’t allow herself to remember about it often. It was sad, she knew it was sad, but it was the choice she had made and one she didn’t regret. Just a night dedicated to the memories with him wouldn’t hurt.

“He loved me”, it wasn’t what her daughter wanted her to say, but it would have to be enough “The two years I was with him were probably the happiest, until I had you and your sister, of course”.

No one in the room seemed surprised, and in that moment, the reality of what she had said didn’t dawn on Alice. She had just admitted to Betty that she had never been happy with Hal, she had really just admitted it to herself for the first time, out loud.

“Why did it end?” Veronica asked, it seemed like she couldn’t stop herself.

 

* * *

 

“Well, I made many mistakes”, FP started but wasn’t sure how to explain without going into things he didn’t want to mention “I wasn’t good enough for her, I wasn’t what she needed, it was bound to happen eventually”, he repeated the same words that had been in his mind for years, torturing him.

“How is this different then?” Jughead asked, and everyone seemed confused “Betty and I, it’s the same thing. I’m not good enough!” He was frustrated and he had gotten it all wrong.

“You are, Juggie!” Archie jumped in to the rescue and FP had never loved that kid more “I’m sorry, Mr. Jones. Your dad is wrong. It’s not gonna be easy for me either, Veronica is probably going to NYU too and I have no idea what’s gonna happen with me.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” The boy asked confused, fixing his beanie.

“I’m trying to get somewhere”, the redhead replied, and everyone gave him all the time he needed “I don’t think this is the same thing, I think you two are making this more dramatic than it needs to be”.

“I’m gonna tell you something similar to what I’ve said to your dad back then”, Fred intervened when his son took too long “Doesn’t matter if you’re good enough or not. You can’t lose her over something stupid like this, whatever it is, you’ll never forgive yourself. Was I wrong?” He turned around to ask his friend.

“I guess you weren’t”, FP finally admitted.

“Oh, fuck”, Jughead sighed “Can someone drive me to Betty’s house?”

Something inside FP felt at peace. All the sadness and guilt from the last 25 years had finally gone to something good, finally helped someone else, his own son, so maybe it was all for something. But there was a new question that would go unanswered forever; could he have fixed it too?

Truth was, it wasn’t the same. These kids were not their parents.

It became obvious when they spotted Betty in the parking lot that she wasn’t her mother, just as it was obvious Jughead wasn’t his father when he ran to her, mumbling apologies. There was something pure about them not knowing what could be, and FP never wanted them to think of a life where they wouldn’t be together.

“A weird night, wasn’t it?” Fred spoke after a couple minutes of silence.

But Alice Cooper was walking towards them. Blonde short hair and a light blue dress, a completely different person from the one he was talking about just seconds ago.

Still he couldn’t get his eyes off her. He couldn’t help but think she probably would’ve made him the happiest man on earth. Just one minute. If he could only have one minute back, without anyone knowing and without consequences, maybe the adult versions of them could handle it better, maybe a lifetime apart had already been enough for both of them.

“They are going out”, the woman announced coldly as she approached them, referring to their kids “I’m going to get something to eat, it’s been a long night. You’re welcome to join me”.

“You know, I think I’ll just head home”, Fred rejected the invitation, it was an all too familiar scenario.

Alice didn’t seem to care, already walking in. The Jones father turned into the Jones kid again, as he followed her into Pop’s. He did wonder if it was on purpose when she sat at their usual booth, but maybe it was just a coincidence. It was probably just a coincidence.

“If Jughead doesn’t get the scholarship, I’m paying his tuition”, she announced and FP wanted to interrupt, he almost made it “Don't even try it, you know you can't convince me. It's not for Betty, or for you. I've worked with him and that boy deserves it”.

The pride that he felt at that moment was overwhelming, and if it was her strategy to distract him from arguing, it worked. After they ordered, there was a small silence between them. It had been too long since they had spent more than a minute alone, and he started to think maybe it was a mistake, one more of those.

“He'll get the scholarship, irregardless”, FP said with confidence “He's smarter than I ever was, but he is as dedicated as I am and he knows how to pick his battles better, thankfully”, he explained and got surprised by the smile on Alice's face.

“He is smarter”, she added and although he was waiting for her to add more, there was nothing, just the smile and silence.

“We talked about you tonight, Allie”, he told her in a moment of weakness. He expected fury but again, got nothing “Fred reminded me about Hermione's party. I tend to forget about that”

The blonde was silent at the other side of her table, her order arrived, and she still said nothing. He didn't want to pressure her, but it would be nice to know she remembered too, that it wasn't a burden he carried alone. However, after more than twenty five years, it probably wouldn't make much of a difference.

“Well, he couldn't have reminded you how you awkwardly patted my shoulder before leaving”, she said after a couple minutes, but her tone was playful.

“What do you mean?!” He asked in the same tone, and she started chuckling “That is not how I remember it. I was a gentleman!”

After breathless laughs and longing looks that should've never happened, everything quieted down again. They weren't an old couple reliving their story, they weren't reunited lovers rekindling their flame. They were FP Jones and Alice Cooper, sworn enemies and polar opposites.

“I think we would've made it”, she let out, to his surprise “You could've convinced me. It wouldn't have been that hard”, she explained.

“Allie, there was no way”, he told her, with a soft voice that was trying desperately to keep the situation under control “You were set on what you wanted, you knew what was best for you”.

“What if I didn’t?” She asked and he almost could see her entire world crumbling down with every word she said “What if I just set myself up for twenty five years of disappointment? I was eighteen, I had no idea what life would be like”.

 

* * *

 

“You knew you could come back to me at any point”, FP said and she knew he was desperate to make it better, he would say anything to keep her calm.

“Oh, come on. You had a family, you had kids, so did I”, she argued and tried to justify every decision in her mind, even if it didn't make sense.

“Allie, irregardless of the consequences, I would've dropped everything for just an hour with you”, he confessed.

It was the second time in that conversation the man had used the nonexistent word 'irregardless'. She really did wonder how he made it to forty five years old, but then again, the serpents didn't care about vocabulary from what she remembered. As she started giggling about it and he looked confused, the question in her mind changed. How had she made it twenty five years without him?

“Would you do it now?” She suddenly asked, in a moment of impulse. He didn't reply, clearly not understanding “Would you drop everything for me now, if I wanted to go back?” The man seemed in shock “Would you take me back?”

“We have kids, Allie. We need to think about that. You have a career and I'm still a serpent”, FP started listing excuses, and with each one, Alice found herself more and more bored, until she couldn't stop herself from interrupting him.

“Would you? Yes or no”, she asked, her eyes piercing into his brown ones, putting all her concentration into those words, thinking about an entire life of wondering 'what if'. She was tired of wondering.

“Yes”, FP let out, short and sweet, but confident and sure. And everything else seemed stupid, every other worry she had was gone.


End file.
